Liam Richards/Electric Umbrella
One day into the CFL’s free-agency period, Chris Jones believes things are going according to plan for his Saskatchewan Roughriders.
By late afternoon Wednesday, the club had signed four free agents (defensive tackle Zack Evans, linebacker Sam Hurl, tailback Jerome Messam and offensive lineman Travis Bond) from other teams.
On Tuesday, Saskatchewan announced two veterans (centre Dan Clark and fullback Spencer Moore) had signed contract extensions shortly before free agency began, bringing to 10 the number of potential free agents the Roughriders signed before Tuesday’s deadline.
That list comprises Clark, Moore, receivers Devon Bailey, Duron Carter and Caleb Holley, offensive linemen Thaddeus Coleman and Brendon LaBatte, defensive end Willie Jefferson, defensive back Jovon Johnson and quarterback Brandon Bridge.
That explains Jones’ take on the situation.
“(The first 24 hours of free agency) has been about what we expected,” Saskatchewan’s head coach-GM said from his home in South Pittsburg, Tenn., during a conference call with the Regina media.
“We had most of our work done, so we had to be careful with how we spent our money and make sure that where we spent our money is where our biggest needs were. We feel pretty good about it.”
In the days before free agency started, Jones said the Roughriders were “right at it” when it came to the CFL salary cap.
The team cleared some cap space on Tuesday when it released offensive lineman Derek Dennis and linebacker/special-teamer Glenn Love, and on Feb. 1 when it cut tailback Kienan LaFrance. All three of those players had been signed as free agents last February.
More cap space was freed up Wednesday when the club revealed it had released national linebacker Henoc Muamba. But Jones admitted more must be done on the financial front.
“There will be some things that have to go on,” he said. “I’ll tell you this: We’ve had a lot of guys who have really worked very solidly with our organization.
“Willie Jefferson, Charleston Hughes, Duron Carter, Zach Collaros, Brandon Bridge — all of those guys have really done a good job of putting the team first and themselves second and taken either significant pay cuts or signed agreements that were very favourable for the cap.”
Dennis was named the CFL’s most outstanding offensive lineman in 2016 as a member of the Calgary Stampeders, so his signing by the Roughriders last February was viewed as a coup.
He started the 2017 season at left tackle before moving to left guard when the Roughriders rejigged their offensive line due to an injury to Clark. All told, Dennis played 15 regular-season games before a back injury sent him to the sidelines.
On Wednesday, Jones said Dennis’ play “left a little something to the imagination,” but his release was based more so on his price tag.
“He was one of the higher-priced guys in the league at his position,” Jones said. “It was just one of those deals where it was not going to fit in what we were doing.”
Dennis’ departure leaves Saskatchewan without an experienced left tackle at the moment.
Campbell is a free agent and, while the Roughriders have been talking with him, the two-game suspension he has to serve in 2018 for failing a league-imposed drug test has come up in the negotiations.
“We’ll just have to go through these processes with him,” Jones said. “If he’s back with us, great. If not, then I feel solid that we’ve got a group of people that know how to identify talent and we’ll go out and find another one.”
To date, four players who suited up for the Roughriders last season have departed via free agency. Receiver Nic Demski signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, defensive end A.C. Leonard joined the Ottawa Redblacks, defensive lineman Ese Mrabure moved to the Stampeders, and linebacker Otha Foster III signed with the B.C. Lions.
Four other individuals who played for Saskatchewan — Campbell, tailback Greg Morris, defensive lineman Eddie Steele and kicker Quinn van Gylswyk — remain on the market.
The additions and subtractions the Roughriders have made this off-season, plus those that have been made since Jones took the reins in December of 2015, are getting him closer to the roster he wants.
“Certainly it’s different than when we first got there,” he said. “We don’t have quite as many holes to fill. We can be a little bit more specific in what we’re looking for at certain positions because we do have good players at a lot of different positions.
“We’ve got to go out and find a couple of defensive linemen and we’ve got to go out and find a left tackle. And certainly we can’t just rest on our laurels. We need to find that next receiver, we need to find that next DB, we need to find that next running back and just keep grinding away.”
• Jones said he was “real disappointed” to hear that Carter had been arrested in Winnipeg and Saskatoon while in possession of marijuana.
The men met in Florida shortly before the receiver signed his extension with the Roughriders in January and Carter didn’t tell Jones about the incident that occurred in Winnipeg in November. The arrest in Saskatoon occurred Feb. 1.
Jones said the team will wait to see how things progress in the justice system before deciding on a course of action. In the meantime, Jones plans to meet with Carter again.
“He and I have had one conversation about it; that’s when he was up in Saskatoon,” Jones said. “He and I are going to sit down in the next little bit and discuss what’s going on and try to hopefully put these things behind us and grow up a little bit.”
